Message text written by The Horn List >Dennis Brain used to sit the length of his horn uncurled (the site claims 12 ft. 9 in. ) from the nearest wall in order for his playing to have the best acoustics.<
Dear All This I have not heard before but in fact, the standard seating in many British horn sections up to and including the early 1950s was to have the 1st horn seated so that the rest of the section were to his left. And as British sections did and do usually sit to the left of the orchestra (looking from the front) this meant that the 1st horn often could 'bounce' the sound off the wall. I have seen a reference in print to Dennis Brain doing this but, the reason usually given for this seating is that the 1st horn's bell was not pointing right into the 2nd horn. There are many well known British orchestral photos of this seating - e.g., Douglas Moore and the BBC Symphony section which is contained in the Robin Gregory book (Mr Moore - the only member of that section pictured still alive - has recently confirmed that this was the standard seating at the BBCSO at that time which was circa 1954) and the photo of the London Symphony Orchestra recording Elgar's Violin Concerto with Elgar conducting and Yehudi Menuin as soloist. This was taken in 1932 and shows the 1st horn (Aubrey Thonger) to the left as you look at the orchestra with the section (2nd Victor Penn, 3rd a player who has been identified as Frank Probyn but there is apparently some doubt about this, and 4th Charles Gregory - later 1st horn in the London Philharmonic) to his left. Cheers Paul A. Kampen (W. Yorks UK) _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
